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mcleodnine writes "Jean Tourrilhes of the Linux Wireless LAN Howto project took some time to answer a few questions from members at LinuxQuestions.org. Among some of the more interesting commments was his pick of best and worst Open Source friendly vendors ('Some of those TI engineers even sent me e-mails criticising some features of the Wireless Extensions'), an opinion or two about the Next Big Thing in wireless (MIMO), and a poke in the eye for OS zealots of any religion."

"I actually believe that OS zealotry is doing a disservice to our community, because if you force somebody into something against his will, you run the risk of creating negative experiences. And, ultimately, what matters is not the OS you use, but what you give to the world, you are not interviewing me because I use Linux;-)"

Finally, I'm sick of the whole "FreeBSD is dying!" "Microsoft kills babies!" "Linux is stoled code!" "Haiku is actually a freeform poem!" stuff. Just use whatever you want... ok?

LQ) what's the hostname of your most favored linux box and why is it named that?

Ok, mod this as troll bait if necessary and I know that email interviews can home in on minutae, but if this guy is a person of interest, aren't there better questions to ask? Was there no moderator screening the questions?

OS zealotry is doing a disservice to our community, because if you force somebody into something against his will, you run the risk of creating negative experiences.

The problem is not so much that it *forces* anybody to use a system like Linux (because it's pretty much impossible for an opinion to be that powerful in the face of economic and political reality), but that it serves to blind people to the potential pitfalls that await, thus leading them to make a wrong decision for their situation. NO system is perfect (even Linux and *gasp*! Mac OS X). ALL have pitfalls depending on what you're using your computer for. In many cases, Windows *is* the best choice, although improvements in KDE and Gnome are making Windows a less obvious choice. And of course, arguing in favour of a system (or a methodology like open-source) is perfectly acceptable, as long as both sides are rational and can concede that the other side has positive attributes as well. Thus, both sides learn from the other and take what they've learned to improve themselves. Thus, honest evaluation leads to progress and growth, which is one of the fundamental tenets of capitalism, the free market, and all that... Of course, the ability to meet halfway is now called "appeasement" and is labeled as a "liberal" trait, which is apparently synonymous with "evil" or "corrupt". Zealotry exists in politics of all types, and is a great temptation, since it's so easy to believe that the world is black and white, good vs. evil, and that there is nothing to learn from the other side and that their arguments are all irrational and unfounded. Zealotry is a glass ceiling on self-improvement.

Zealotry in any form is inherently dishonest because zealots consciously or unconsciously hide the faults of their beloved systems while simultaneously proclaiming their greatness. This does lead to bad experiences (and I'm talking from experience!).

The UPSIDE of being a Linux zealot as opposed to a Windows or Mac zealot is that because the system is very open, any roadblocks you may encounter are likely soon to be fixed, or are fixable if you know a programmer who accepts payment in beer and pizza (which is all of them). I've hit roadblocks in Mac OS X that have no solution, and none seems to be coming... and [zealotry on] Windows itself *IS* a roadblock! [zeatotry off]

"You can get excellent, servicable wireless 802.11b hardware from several years ago"

No you can't. Not in the sense that you can spec it on a purchase order, or go to your local retailer and pick it off the shelf. And not in the sense that you can effectively mail order it either.

Even if you know brand and model number, most cards have various chipsets. I know I covet my D-Link DWL-520 cards. These are PCI 802.11 cards. the current card under the same model number is Broadcom. The old ones are Prism2. Guess which ones are in the stores today?

Likewise, I have lots of Linksys products, including 3 PC Cards, one of which is Prism2 and the others are garbage. They have exactly the same packaging and model number, so how would I buy another one? I also have Linksys USB devices, some are Prism2, some are not. Again, how will I buy another one if brand and model number won't pick it?

"Some of them are simply radios with software controllers and as such you can reprogram them to broadcast on reserved police frequencies etc."

Sounds like a defective and dangerous product that ought to find the corporate execs on the wrong end of a tort suit.

A dangerous product isn't made safe just by leaving the information out of the manual that it's dangerous.

So they've shipped a dangerous product, and they think they've covered their asses by not telling you about it. That sounds like a strategy that's bound to lose, as in, lose a bankrupting lawsuit, sooner or later.